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Marisa Blaney and Lorraine Nicholas of Whitehaven, Cumbria, complained to the Press Complaints Commission that the newspaper had published an inaccurate account of interviews they had each given to the newspaper's reporters, causing them distress and embarrassment and intruding into their privacy in breach of Clauses 1 (Accuracy) and 3 (Privacy) of the Editors' Code.

The complainants said that the newspaper's account contained a number of inaccuracies. Most significantly, Ms Nicholas denied that she had suggested any particular motive for the shooting by Derrick Bird of her brother-in-law, Don Reid. Further, Ms Nicholas said she had not consented to the publication of a picture of her taken in her home.

Resolution:

The complaint was resolved when the newspaper, which had provided contemporaneous shorthand notes to corroborate the information, agreed - in light of the complainants' strong claims of inaccuracy - to remove the article from its website and to give an assurance that the quotes would not be republished in future.